Brussels, 18/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - According to the press, the European Council of 14 and 15 December was "boring" and "unspectacular", and so if being boring means trying to move forward concretely in the direction of the concerns of the citizens, then "I am boring and proud of it", said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen addressing the members of the European Parliament, at the mini-plenary held in Brussels on 18 December and given over to the results of this Summit (see EUROPE 9328 and 9329). A Summit which journalists find boring isn't necessarily a bad thing, commented Martin Schulz, the President of the Socialist group. The judgment of the parliamentarians on the conclusion of the European Council was more mixed, and confirmed the differences of opinion on enlargement and the Constitution, but the disappointment expressed by various members (particularly on the absence of progress on movement to qualified majority in decisions on justice and home affairs issues) was largely balanced out by the most positive appreciation of the work done over the last six months of the Finnish Presidency, particularly in the field of REACH and the seventh R&D framework programme (see other article) and the "services" directive. During this half-year, stressed José Manuel Barroso, the European institutions have concentrated more on the concerns of the citizens, and less on those of "Brussels". Pleading once again in favour of a "Europe of results", the President of the European Commission reiterated: we cannot build Europe in the future with the "instruments of the past", we must continue to combine the "double approach" which consists of consolidating progress made whilst continuing to pursue the "big picture". I am somewhat "confused" to hear talk of this "Europe of results" with respect to this Summit, retorted Monica Frassoni, co-President of the Greens/EFA Group, which saw "nothing particularly new and nothing particularly concrete" in the conclusions of the European Council, on the subjects of immigration, enlargement or the Constitution, and which spoke out against the "hypocrisy" of stating that "any mention, today, of constitutional reform means holding up enlargement". A Europe of results is a Europe of social justice, with no "salary dumping or social dumping", and then yes, the citizens will be able to identify their personal destiny with the European Union, said German PDS MEP Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, speaking on behalf of the GUE/NGL group. "It was thanks to the European Parliament that these results were obtained, which shows that the Parliament has a political vision and that it is not just a registration chamber", said Françoise Grossetête (EPP-ED, France).
In his speech, Matti Vanhanen laid particular emphasis on the following: -enlargement. The EU has shown that it "remains open", particularly towards the western Balkans, but that this open door must nonetheless be accompanied by "strict conditions", he summed up, adding that we must not set "artificial borders" in Europe, because borders are not set in stone on geographical maps, but in values. As for Turkey, which "has a future in Europe", the process has not come to a stop: it "may have slowed down temporarily, but the final destination remains the same"; -the European Constitution: since the beginning of the Presidency, "the atmosphere has changed, we started off sleeping the sleep of the just, but now we have become more active". The baton will be passed to Germany, but whilst we wait for the Constitution, we can go forward, and according to the Finnish Prime Minister, "the most efficient way, the fairest way, is more qualified majority". At the European Council, the Presidency would have preferred to go further on this subject as regards decisions on justice and home affairs issues, but Mr Vanhanen takes the view that the final message of the Summit in any case constitutes a "breakthrough in terms of approach" of the problem of the "passerelle" between unanimity and qualified majority. Here, President Barroso admitted his disappointment in noting that certain Member States had rejected the Finnish proposal on activating the passerelle allowing to move from the intergovernmental to the Community; -Russia. It is our right to be "concerned" at the evolution of such an important partner as Russia, said Mr Vanhanen, who is "not convinced that it is going on the right direction". We need an EU/Russia Treaty, he said, warning: giving up on this Treaty would be a short-term vision, and a network of bilateral agreements would allow Russia to treat the Member States of the EU differently. On important subjects, we have been capable of telling Russia that "this is not negotiable", said José Manuel Barroso, who stressed the need not to give into Russian pressure aiming to divide the Member States.
The President of the EPP-ED group, Hans-Gert Pöttering, agreed: there must only be a common Treaty, no disjointed agreements, and we must state clearly that we do not intend to sacrifice human rights for our energy supplies. If we really want to be autonomous towards Russia and the other energy producers, then we must reduce our energy consumption by 30% and develop alternative energy sources, said Monica Frassoni, co-President of the Greens/EFA (who said that this Group would have liked to see the Presidency, "with its healthy Nordic realism, try to admit that nuclear energy really has nothing to do with climate change"). Let us treat Russia as an equal, yes, but let us not to give in to its pressure, said the Irish co-President of the UEN Group, Brian Crowley, who referred to the crisis in exports of Polish meat.
The results of the Summit on the migration policy went down well with Martin Schulz, President of the Socialist Group, who exclaimed: "finally, a very positive signal!", giving an orientation for next year. The President of the ALDE Group, Graham Watson, took a more mixed view, whereas Simon Busuttil (EPP-ED, Malta) welcomed the conclusions of the European Council (up until now, the burden has weighed particularly heavily on the countries of the South, he regretted). José Manuel Barroso also welcomed these conclusions, and particularly the decision to hold a Summit with Africa next year, as this is a continent from which so many people aspiring to immigration depart, all too often to meet with a tragic destiny. We should not have to witness so many human tragedies before taking action, he said.
Several MEPs, among them Graham Watson, regretted the absence of progress on activating the "passerelle" clause on the JHA issues, whilst Brian Crowley felt that passerelle or not, no concrete progress can be made whilst the Member States do not agree. The British Conservative member Charles Tannock went further: these are affairs which touch on national sovereignty, he warned.
On the Constitution, the MEPs were even more divided. Firstly, those who wanted more: Hans-Gert Pöttering (who expects much of the Declaration of Berlin of March 2005), Martin Schulz (who warned: in the view of the Socialist Group, enlargement is not possible unless the constitutional process is continued), Graham Watson (who believes that "we cannot wait for a new Treaty" to make the EU capable of functioning), and Sylvia -Yvonne Kaufmann (who calls upon the EU first and foremost, and not just the candidate countries, to bring order to their own houses). Then come those who are opposed to the Constitution, ranging from MEPs of the extreme Left, such as Esko Seppänen of Finland, to those further to the Right, such as the co-President of the Independence and Democracy Group, Nigel Farage of the UK, who accuses the European elite of "political dishonesty" and contempt for the opinions "of the ordinary people". You are getting into more and more "activism" in the field of foreign policy, and you hope to bring in a Constitution which two countries did not want, but that will not fly with the United Kingdom, he warned. UK Labour member Richard Corbett replied: you only want to hear those who said "no", but 18 countries have said "yes" to the Constitution, and we must take account of the views of both sides.
In his address, Graham Watson also welcomed the progress made by the Finnish Presidency in the field of transparency: in the last six months, 86% of legislation has been adopted in public, he pointed out.
Hans-Gert Pöttering's last address as President of the EPP-ED Group
CDU member Hans-Gert Pöttering took the opportunity of his address to take leave of his colleagues as President of the EPP-ED group, as he is a candidate to take over from President Borrell next January, calling on the leaders of the political groups, all of whom he referred to by name (even in the case of the President of the Independence and Democracy Group, Jens-Peter Bonde, I have had something in common, i.e. concern for transparency, Mr Pöttering noted): at the Parliament, between institutions, let us treat each other with respect, this is necessary if we hope to have a strong Europe. Most of the Presidents of the Groups congratulated Mr Pöttering, some of them with humour, such as Martin Schulz, who told him: you have actually succeeded in being the President of two political groups without anybody noticing, as what you call the EPP or ED "components" of the EPP-ED are actually two completely different groups. At the European Parliament we need an "ideological majority", not a "grand coalition", said Graham Watson (a reference to the discontent of the other political groups at the agreements often concluded by the EPP-ED and the PES, both of which are presided over by Germans, and to the coalition in power in Berlin). Continue to be a "fighter for Europe", Monica Frassoni told Mr Pöttering, whilst calling upon him to "leave to one side these traces of an accent which are a little too close to a certain religion" (a reference to calls made by her colleague for an explicit reference in the Constitutional Treaty to the Christian roots of Europe). Giving him her very best wishes for his future, the Italian Green added that "it depends a little on my own", as she herself is a candidate for the Presidency of the Parliament. (mg)